I think book-burning is for barbarians, and religious folk. We are thinking men! We should put thoose books on the shelf labelled as history (not as science or etics as others do). But that doesn't mean we have to burn them. Bible, and other holy books represent a great literary value, just as Odyssey and Iliad do. It's jut that we mustn't take them serious....

..."we can be truly free - not because we can rebel against the the tyranny of the selfish replicators but because we know that there is no one to rebel."
Susan Blackmore : The Meme Machine

I don't think anyone would burn bibles/qurans/other holy books to destroy their information, that'd be pointless and useless. Then, the purpose would have to be symbolism(can't come up with anything else). Burning books symbolizes hate, and even if your purpose would be to symbolize something else, most people will get it as hateful symbolism.

And think of the environment before burning all copies of the best selling books in the world!

(25-01-2011 02:31 PM)TheSelfishGene Wrote: Bible, and other holy books represent a great literary value, just as Odyssey and Iliad do. It's jut that we mustn't take them serious....

That's the problem. As long as holy books exist they will be taken seriously, often by people who should be put away, but religions will protect them until after the damage is done.

Not necessarily. We still have stories and records of the traditions of many faiths that have fallen into disfavor with the masses and are generally "known" or "believed" to be false. Just because the bible or quran is touted as truth today, does not mean it will always be that way. It will just take a while for another paradigm shift. In "The God That Wasn't There", one of the people interviewed says he still goes to church, but he goes there to observe the popular mythology of the time. Nothing wrong with that, or of studying the past history of humanity and it's many beliefs

(26-01-2011 08:12 AM)Kikko Wrote: I don't think anyone would burn bibles/qurans/other holy books to destroy their information, that'd be pointless and useless. Then, the purpose would have to be symbolism(can't come up with anything else). Burning books symbolizes hate, and even if your purpose would be to symbolize something else, most people will get it as hateful symbolism.

And think of the environment before burning all copies of the best selling books in the world!

Okay, before I toss a Bible in the shredder, I would do it not in an attempt to censor information, or because of "hate", but rather to prove to people that I DO NOT BELIEVE, and destroying this book to me is no different than destroying yesterday's newspaper. I'm sure there is an abundant supply of Bibles out there, if there are say 300 million in the US that would be a very small fraction of a percent.

Quote:...but rather to prove to people that I DO NOT BELIEVE, and destroying this book to me is no different than destroying yesterday's newspaper.

Explain that to the angry mob. Or are we talking about public burning or private burning? I have no problem with burning books privately, personally I could throw a bible to a small fire and then extinquish the fire with my urine, leaving the bible ½burned, wet, smelly and steaming. (Sorry, I think I slipped one of my secret fantasies there. ) But if there would be
Christians/random people there, I wouldn't do it. Not because I could get sued, but because it would make me an ass. I could try to explain the people my true symbolistic purposes, but you think they would listen/care?